


Flowers and Felines

by thegoddessinzerogravity



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Action/Adventure, Banter, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, ML Secret Santa, Marichat, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21822760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegoddessinzerogravity/pseuds/thegoddessinzerogravity
Summary: When Marinette wins another design contest, Chat Noir is forced to protect her all on his own after the loser is akumatized into a beast intent on hunting her down.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 9
Kudos: 213





	Flowers and Felines

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cesspooldrool](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=cesspooldrool).



Marinette tried to discretely wipe her palms on her dress, feeling the anxiety build the longer the announcement was delayed. She was longing to open her purse to talk to Tikki, or dig out her phone to call Alya. But one was impossible in the crowd of people around her, and the other would have been rude. She had to look focused.

After her success in designing a derby hat for Gabriel Agreste’s contest, Alya and her parents had kept encouraging her to try out for more local contests. This one was taking place inside another school in Paris, with significantly more people scattered around than her first competition.

The challenge had been to create a piece of jewelry based around an animal. It hadn’t taken too long for Marinette to find her inspiration- a black tiara, with bright green crystals winding around it in a circular pattern.

Maybe she’d find a way to show it to her muse after this was done. He was sure to be pleased that she’d thought of him.

Focusing on Chat helped relieve her nerves. If he was here with her, he’d already be cracking jokes and making puns. As much as he could irritate her sometimes, more times than not he was a comforting presence, akuma battle or no.

From the center of the auditorium, the small group of judges examining the table with all the entries on it drew apart, and one of them pulled out a microphone and tapped it, quickly drawing the attention o everyone in the room.

“Thank you all for attending tonight’s contest, ladies and gentlemen. Fostering creativity in Paris’s young people is always a rewarding endeavor, and we’re very glad to have had so many talented people participate. You’ve all done amazingly well, but now it’s time to announce the winner.”

The judge gestured to the white cloth-covered table with several pieces of jewelry, her own black and green tiara among them.

“And the winner is . . . Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”

Cheers burst from the crowd, and disbelief, followed quickly by happiness, filled Marinette. She made her way to where the judges were waiting. The announcer picked up her tiara and handed it to her, and she put it on automatically. On the table, she got a good look at the other pieces that had been designed. One of the most impressive, a rope necklace with a metallic snake winding around it, caught her eye especially.

“Would you like to say anything?” the judge asked cheerfully, and handed her the microphone before she could answer. Caught off guard, she clutched the microphone to her chest and fumbled for something to say.

“Um, I’d like to-“ Halfway through her sentence, a loud gasp came from the crowd. It was quickly followed by another gasp, and then a scream, and Marinette felt her stomach sink.

“What’s going on?” said one judge, before Marinette threw the microphone down and tried to speedwalk to the doors as fast as possible. She was fairly confident that she knew exactly what was going to happen next, and she needed to be clear in order to deal with it.

Did Hawkmoth have to ruin everything? She couldn’t even attend a fashion contest as a civilian now without having her evening interrupted by his butterflies and his determination to turn Paris into his personal playground.

“Marinette!” a new voice hissed, loudly enough to carry over the rapidly panicking crowd. “Don’t think you can escape so easily!” She hardly had to turn around before she was struck in the legs, bringing her to the ground so hard her vision blurred for a moment.

When she regained her composure, she was faced with a giant snake, bigger than any one she had ever seen before. It’s mouth was filled with needle sharp fangs, and it’s eyes were turned directly on her.

Marinette frantically tried to jerk herself away and crawl backwards, but the huge weight on her stomach was too much for her to move more than a few inches.

The akumatized victim reared it’s head back, and Marinette mind went blank with panic-

Just as a long black baton slammed down on the snake’s head.

Chat Noir tumbled out of nowhere, using the rest of his momentum to body slam the snake away from her. He crouched low in front of, forming a human shield between her and the akuma.

“People in this city really need to learn how to take failure better,” he said, his tail swishing back and forth. “Or maybe Hawkmoth needs to get more creative.” He winked at her.

The snake, having recovered from the initial blows from Chat, rolled back over and tried to lunge at Marinette again. Chat swung his baton in a wide arc, taking a few steps backward until he was standing directly over her. He bent down and wrapped his free arm around her waist.

“What do you say me and you ditch this party?” He sheathed his baton and darted away, out of the auditorium and into the hallways surrounding it.

“Chat Noir!” Marinette wheezed, still struggling to get air back into her lungs. “What are you doing here-“ The end of her sentence was cut off when Chat suddenly skidded to a halt in the middle of the hallway, and Marinette clung even harder onto him, grateful for the support.

“Are you okay?!” he said, setting her down and giving her a quick once-over. “She didn’t hurt you, did she?”

“I’m fine! Don’t ignore my question, how did you get here so fast? She just barely got akumatized!”

Chat shrugged. “I happened to be in the neighborhood, Princess. I heard screaming coming from inside and figured it must have been a butterfly situation.”

Marinette looked around for the first time since being grabbed by Chat. They were in another hallway off the main venue, this one significantly smaller and poorly-lit compared to the room she’d just been in. There was an open window a few feet away from them, blowing in cool night air. The silence in the hall compared to the screams and chaos of before was eerie, and Marinette almost unconsciously moved to be closer to Chat.

She realized she was still wearing her tiara just as he lightly flicked his nail against it. “Cute crown. Inspired by yours truly, I assume?” He winked again, and Marinette tried not to get distracted at his ridiculous flirting.

“So . . . did we lose the akuma?”

“I think I got you far enough away for now-“ he narrowed his eyes and turned around, nudging Marinette behind him as he did. His cat ears twitched, and she realized his hypersensitive hearing was picking up something she couldn’t.

Unbidden, Marinette remembered a documentary about snakes that she’d watched with her parents, years ago. They were deadly hunters, and some of the bigger species were capable of squeezing their prey to death in minutes.

Her palms started feeling clammy again. She was incredibly exposed like this, with no easy way to transform into Ladybug, and no actual idea where the akuma intent on destroying her was. “Chat?” she whispered, hoping her voice wouldn’t betray her anxiety. “Shhh.” He replied.

A floorboard creaked.

Chat’s eyes widened, and he reached around and seized her waist again-

Just as the giant cobra exploded through the wall on their right.

Chat extended his baton, and Marinette flung her arms around his neck and swallowed a scream as he sent them hurtling into the air and through the wide-open window, the huge fangs on the akumatized victim behind them just missing her feet.

They emerged over a crowded Parisian street, and hung suspended in the air for a moment before the momentum from the baton vanished, and gravity took a firm hold on them. From her position on his chest, she heard him gasp “hang on tight, Marinette!” He swung his baton back around and extended it again, making a loud clack as it hit a street corner and sent them flying up again.

Marinette craned her head over his shoulder to look behind them at the window they’d just hurtled out of, and saw the snake slithering out of it, wrapping its body around the sill and reaching across the air for them.

Chat must have realized they were still being chased too, as he swore and gripped her waist even tighter. The snake let out another screech, and launched herself fully out of the building after them.

He flung his baton out a third time, and as they rose into the air Marinette spotted the snake, with less grace and speed than Chat Noir, tumble to the ground in the middle of the street. Cars honked and several people screamed.

They landed with a jolt in a large, leafy oak several blocks away from where they’d started. The chaos in the street had bought them a few moments of reprieve, and Marinette felt the adrenaline start to wear off. The bruises and scrapes from her initial altercation with the akuma started to make themselves known, and Marinette bit back a sound of pain, slowly sinking into a crouch on the tree branch they were perched in.

She knew their break couldn’t possibly last longer than a minute or two. She shouldn’t get comfortable. Chat Noir released his hold on her waist and gently grabbed her chin instead. “Are you alright? For real this time, Princess.”

He looked more like a bird than a cat, crouched in the treetops and leaning over her like an oversized crow. Marinette pushed his hand off of her face and said “I really am okay, just some scrapes from where it tackled me. They’re not serious. You don’t have to keep carrying me around, Chat. You can leave me here and go find Ladybug, I’ll find somewhere to hide.” Chat just kept looking at her, with worry and sincerity in his eyes, and she ducked her head to break eye contact with him.

It was difficult to meet his eyes when he was looking at her like that, so full of concern and sincerity. She’d been seeing that look from him too often lately; both as Marinette and Ladybug.

Marinette tried to stand up, to prove to him that she was perfectly capable of running from an akuma by herself, only to feel a sharp bolt of pain in her knee and was abruptly brought back down into a crouch.

His look of anxiety only grew, and he reached one hand down to the cut on her knee. The akuma had torn off a small section of her jeans, and now blood was flowing freely down her leg. “Snakes have an amazing sense of smell. If it got a hold of a piece of your jeans, that means it can probably track your scent. I can’t just leave you somewhere while I wait for Ladybug.” He moved forward and gathered her in his arms again, holding her securely against his chest. “We’ll find somewhere better to make a stand, where I can keep an eye on you and fight it at the same time.”

“But what about Ladybug?”

“She’ll come and figure a way to defeat it. She always does. And until then, I’m staying with you.”

Another screech burst up from the street below them, and in the same instant Chat extended his baton and they leapt from the tree. The akuma chased after them, fully recovered from her crash into traffic. It tore through the streets at unimaginable speeds, and despite the advantage of Chat’s baton, they were just barely faster.

Unlike their earlier frantic dashes, Chat appeared calmer. He was planning out where he swung his baton now, instead of just wildly swinging in a panicked haze. At the peak of their swing, Marinette spotted a park, crowded full of trees and bushes of large flowers. Something sparked in her mind.  
She grabbed his shoulder and pulled her mouth up to his ear. “I have an idea!"

* * *

“You’re absolutely sure about this?”

Marinette set her chin and glared at him. “You said it yourself, snakes have an amazing sense of smell but awful eyesight. If it can see me, but the scent gets confused by all the flora-“ she gestured with one hand at the blooming flowers around them- “it’s the perfect way to disorient it enough to trap it.

“And,” she added, spotting that look coming onto his face again, “you’ll be hiding in the treetops the whole time, so if anything goes wrong you can jump down and get me out.”

Chat sighed. “It is a great plan. I just don’t like using you as bait.”

She smiled at him, and reached up to touch his cheek. “I’ll be totally safe the whole time. I’ve got the greatest superhero in Paris looking out for me, don’t I?”  
That got a grin back on his face, and he reached out to playfully tug one of her pigtails. “See you in a few minutes, Princess.” He leapt into the treetops with barely a rustling of leaves.

She took a deep breath in, and pushed her way out of the small circle of trees they’d been hidden in. Her knee was still sore, and she reached down to rub it, feeling some of the dried blood flake off in her palm as she did so. It didn’t matter much anyway. If she was lucky, Marinette wouldn’t actually be present for most of the fight at all.

The night air felt cool and refreshing against her skin, and the smell of the flora in the park helped take the edge off, just a little bit. It was a beautiful place, and if it weren’t for the immediate threat, this seemed like the sort of place she would have liked to just spend time in. Maybe even with Chat Noir, although he was sure to come up with countless awful jokes to regale her with.

Much of the plan banked on the akuma having tracked them to the park, but not that specific area, and Marinette felt a flicker of anxiety return as she started to walk along the paved pathway. What if the akuma was off somewhere else, destroying the city or hurting people with the powers Hawkmoth had granted her?

As she strolled the path, stomping her feet as loudly as possible, Marinette started to wonder what was happening back at the award ceremony. What did they think had happened to her? Were they worried?

There was a sudden _thump_ from the greenery beside her.

Far too heavy to be Chat Noir.

An inhuman voice spoke, growling from the depths of the once-friendly park. “I see you, little girl.”

For the fourth time that night, the akuma lunged at Marinette, massive fangs glinting in the moonlight. Marinette immediately sprang into the wildflowers growing along the side of the path, backing as far into the bushes as she physically could.

The snake’s huge muscular head crashed down just in front of her, tearing the flowers to shreds and creating a very effective curtain. It withdrew, and she heard it shriek with frustration. “Where are you?! Don’t hide from me!”

The familiar sound of Chat’s baton hitting the dirt joined the mix, and she heard him taunt “Aren’t you tired of sneaking up on us and jumping out? Do you have a lot of _ser-pent-up_ anger or something?”

On her hands and knees crawling away as fast as she could, Marinette resisted the urge to roll her eyes at that one. The flowers off the path slid away into a small, grassy hill, and Marinette let herself tumble down it until she reached the bottom.

Finally, she yanked open her purse and Tikki shot out. “You’re cutting it pretty close, aren’t you-“

“No time for that right now, just transform me!”

The Ladybug transformation rolled over her in a burst of red and pink magic, and she grinned as she felt the power of the Miraculous rushing through her.

She flung her yoyo at the nearest tree and leapt into the air, almost instantly spotting where Chat and the akuma were still going at it. He was holding his own remarkably well, considering the massive size difference between himself and the snake.

Her assumption that all the strong smells of the different flowers would confuse the snake was correct; it couldn’t seem to land a blow on Chat, and kept rolling side to side and whipping it head around.

Ladybug threw her yoyo out again in midair and wrapped it tightly around the snake’s head, yanking her to the side as she landed next to her partner.

“Hi there, Kitty. You seem to be having a nice night.”

“I knew you’d come,” he said happily. “I knew it.”

The akuma tried to lunge at them again, and she jerked her yoyo down. “Do you have any idea what the akumatized object might be?”

He frowned. “Not sure yet, Marinette might be able to help-“ he froze suddenly, and grabbed her arm. “Marinette! Did you see her? You know what she looks like right, she-“

“It’s okay!” she interrupted. “I ran into her just as I tracked you down. I told her to run back to her house.” He relaxed and dropped his grip on her arm.

Ladybug examined the snake closely, and got her first real look at it all night. It’s scales were thick and hard, almost like a dragon, and were colored yellow and brown.

There was a small cord wrapped around her neck (or the place approximately where her neck would have been.) It was the same piece of jewelry that had been passed over in the contest.

Chat Noir followed her gaze. “That has to be it.”

“Grab it, quick, while I’ve got it under control.”

With his usual catlike grace, he darted under her yoyo and snatched the necklace. With one swift movement, he yanked it two. The black butterfly emerged, flapping away into the night sky.

Ladybug swung her yoyo at it, and the path was engulfed in bright light. The pain lingering in her knee vanished, and the flowers along the park pathway repaired themselves.

In the place of the huge cobra, there was now the girl from the design competition, sitting in the middle of the park and looking bewildered. She looked up and saw Ladybug and Chat standing over her, and winced.

“It . . . I got akumatized, didn’t I?”

Chat dropped to his knee and sympathetically put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, it’s not your fault.”

The girl rubbed her head. “I’m sorry about all this. I was just really excited for my snake necklace to win, and . . . I should apologize to the girl who did win. Where is she?”

“She knows it wasn’t your fault,” Chat said. “Want me to take you back to the contest hall now?”

She nodded. “Yes, please.” Chat put his arm under her shoulders and glanced back at Ladybug. “Can you go check on Marinette, please? I don’t think she lives very far from me.”

Ladybug put her hand on her hips, another idea springing to mind. “You know what, Kitty? Why don’t you check up on Marinette yourself after you bring her back? I’m sure she’d be very glad to be able to thank you in person.”

* * *

An hour later, Marinette was pacing back and forth in her room. Maybe it had been a silly idea to suggest he come to visit her. Maybe he had other things going on that night.

There was a loud knock on the window of her balcony. She scrambled across the room to open it, and was greeted by Chat Noir with a huge grin plastered on his face.

He fell into her room, and Marinette resisted a giggle at the loud thump. “The savior of Paris,” she said above him. “He’ll fight off a monster snake, but can’t nail a  
short jump into a carpeted room.”

He leapt up, looking haughty and just the littlest bit disheveled. “I’ll have you know I did that on purpose. You wound me with your teasing.”

She laughed again, and sat down on he bed. After a second of hesitation, he followed.

“I wanted to officially say thank you. For jumping in to help me, and agreeing to my plan even though it was super dangerous.”

“You are more than welcome,” he said, drawing his arm around her shoulders. “It’s the least I could do after my favorite civilian made a tiara with the same colors as yours truly.”

She wiggled out of his grip and pushed the tiara off of her head, swinging it around her fingers. “So you like it then?”

“I love it.” She stopped twirling it around, and plopped it down on his head. It was placed awkwardly between his leather cat ears, and this time he laughed, reaching up to feel it with one hand.

“I’d consider this night a rounding success, Princess.”

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to write this with the same beats as something we might actually see as an episode! Usually whenever an Akuma targets Marinette and only Chat is around to protect her, he hides her somewhere safe and then leaves, but I wanted to have something where she takes a more active role in the fight as her civilian self. I hope you liked it! I had a lot of fun writing it, it was an interesting challenge trying to design an actual plot structure rather than just an extended one-shot like I usually do.


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